Slab collapse injures five

Five members of a family sustained minor injuries when the ceiling of their ground floor flat in a Maharashtra Housing & Area Development Authority (Mhada) building in Chunabhatti caved in on Saturday afternoon.

According to ward officials, the 44-year-old building located in Maharashtra Housing Society was recently given a clearance certificate for not showing any external signs of danger.

“The incident is an isolated case. The building was structurally not very old. Of the 150 buildings in the society, 110 were sent notices for showing signs of danger in structural balance; this building was not a part of the list,” said Harshad Kale, assistant commissioner. Kale added that talks for redevelopment of the five-storey structure were already underway.

Aaround 1pm on Saturday, a portion of the ceiling of the flat belonging to one Kalan family collapsed. Five members of the family — Santosh, 45; Gajanan, 75; Bhupesh, 55; Siddhi, 40, and Shantaben Parmar, 45 — sustained minor injuries. They were immediately rushed to Sion hospital, where they underwent treatment, and were later discharged.

Ward officials said a thorough inspection of the building will be undertaken again to verify if the building is structurally safe or not. “Based on the report prepared by our structural engineers, we will take a call on whether a demolition notice has to be issued,” said Kale. “However, it is essential for societies to undertake regular repairs and audits of the buildings to ensure such instances do not occur.”